Post Civil War United States

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Post Civil War United States

After the Civil War the United States witnessed the greatest movement of people in it’s history. The area of settlement more than doubled. With this expansion the United States encountered many new problems which required new solutions.
Between 1865 to about 1877 the United States was going through a reconstruction period. Society as well as Government had to be reconstructed especially in the post war South. The changes the Civil War brought also brought up new ways to go about handling the changes and making them stick. Two if the major changes that had to be addressed were the Economic and Social structures had to be rebuilt.
The Political system had to be reconstructed as well. There were no blacks in office and that had to change with the new emancipation. Black people were to have a say in what went on. In 1863 Lincoln proposed his “10 Percent” Reconstruction plan. Lincoln’s suggestions were provoking very sharp reactions in congress. They feared that Lincolns Plans would create a situation for re-enslavement and other major slave issues. In 1864 Republicans created the Wade-Davis Bill. It was in turn vetoed by Lincoln which enraged the republicans. A year later in 1865 Lincoln was assassinated. Only for office to be taken by Andrew Johnson who shared many of the same beliefs as Lincoln.
With the end of the Civil War also came emancipation of blacks. This was very big in many ways. Black people were never before considered citizens and they had no rights a white man or woman had. Emancipation was not taken to right away by the states. Some states took longer to recognize emancipation than others. Many black people found themselves being re-enslaved even after emancipation. Some were attacked by slave owners as they tried to gain freedom from the emancipation. The Slave owners even went as far as killing blacks who tried to escape saying that slavery was lawful unles...